Save The Last Dance For Me
by TeamBlaus4EVER
Summary: A prom is something every girl dreams of going to.The First dance with the man you love,the first kiss of the night.So why is Mara standing in the corner while Mick is dancing with Amber?Will Mara get her kiss and her dance with the man that loves her?


Thanks for all the reviews on my other Jara one shot, I hope that this one is as good as the other one. I do not own anything of the characters in this, they belong to their rightful owners.

Mara was standing in the corner of the gym watching as her boyfriend danced away with Amber. She had tried her best over the week not to be jealous when watching them practice dancing over the past couple of nights, but she was finding it harder not to glare in their direction. Mick had assured her that Amber was just teaching him to dance for Mara's benefit, but this was Amber and Mick they were talking about. Nothing was just 'friends' about them.

And to make it worse? She hasn't even danced once since the prom started, which was about an hour ago. She's been in the corner the whole night, waiting for Mick to finish dancing with Amber and come ask her to dance. He's still dancing with Amber though. She heard the song that was playing end and a new one end. She bit her lip, it was the slow song she had requested for her and Mick to dance too. Only, he was dancing to it with Amber.

"Now what is the school rep still doing in the corner? Did your 'boyfriend' not show up?" She jumped at the sound of someone talking to her. She looked around and saw that Jerome was now next to her. She looked at the floor in embarrassment. She hadn't thought anyone had noticed her waiting for Mick, but of course, Jerome had.

"Amber's been teaching him how to dance, I'm sure he just wants to make sure he's got it before he wants to dance with me is all." Mara tried to sound as if she knew that was exactly what was going on, but even she didn't believe herself. She knew that Jerome didn't believe her either.

"He looks like he's got the hang of it perfectly fine to me. It seems you've been stood up, my poor dear Mara." Jerome said to her. Mara bit back a frown and forced herself to smile. She didn't want Jerome to be right, he couldn't be right. Mick wouldn't do that to her, especially after what he did to get her back. "Isn't this your favorite song, Mara?" Jerome asked her after listening to the music for a moment. Mara looked up at him and nodded.

"Yeah, but it's fine. I'm sure the song Mick and I dance to will be a good song too." Mara said to him. Jerome rolled his eyes when she wasn't looking. He knew that this was the song Mara wanted to dance to. It was her favorite song, no doubt one that she requested to be played. Jerome took a step in front of her, holding out his hand to her. "Would you like to dance, Mara Jaffray?" He asked her, a playful grin playing on his lips. Mara bit her lip as she hesitantly placed her hand in Jerome's.

"I'd like that very much, Jerome Clarke." Mara said to him with a small smile as he led her to the dance floor. He lifted up their joined hands and twirled her around before pulling her close and placing his other hand on her waist as they started swaying to the beat of the song. Mara glanced at Mick and Amber to see them dancing away in their own world. She shook her head sadly before she laid her head on Jerome's chest.

Jerome glanced down at Mara and smiled to himself. She seemed to find perfectly in his arms and his hand was tingling from her touch. God, he sounded like a school girl, but right now? He frankly just didn't care. Mara was dancing with him, and that was all that mattered at the moment. He glanced down at her again to see that she was watching Mick and Amber.

He looked away from them, wishing that Mara wasn't watching them either and was enjoying their dance. He knew the song would be coming to an end soon, and then Mara would be back in the corner watching Mick and Amber dance and wasting what she be her memorable night as well. He looked down at her when he felt her tense up. He saw tears rimming her eyes followed her eyes sight back to Mick and Amber. His jaw dropped upon seeing Mick and Amber snogging.

Mara had seen Mick lean down and capture Amber's lips with his own, and she could feel her heart was breaking all over again. She needed to get out of here, like now. "I . . . I'm sorry, Jerome. I need to go." Mara said as she pulled out of Jerome's arms and took off out of the room. Jerome gritted his teeth together, wanting to follow after Mara, but there was something he had to do first. He stalked up to Mick and pulled him from Amber.

"What the . . . Jerome!" Mick growled out seconds before Jerome's fist met his face. Mick staggered back, Amber screaming out as she moved to his side. Jerome waved his hand around, his knuckles now throbbing in pain. As much as his hand hurt, he was pleased to have finally hit Mick.

"That, mate, was for Mara. You know, your girlfriend. The girl you weren't just snogging with." Jerome didn't care that everyone had stopped and was now watching the scene Jerome had caused. Mick just glared at him as Amber looked between them with wide eyes. Jerome scoffed and walked off to go find Mara. He had a feeling that she was still in the school, he doubted that she would want to go back to the house where a certain someone could easily find her and corner her into forgiving him.

He found himself stopping at the girl's bathroom door. He could hear sniffling coming from the inside, and knew that it was Mara doing the sniffling. He glanced around to see that no one was around and walked inside the bathroom. He looked around and at first didn't see her anywhere, but sighed when he spotted her shoes behind one of the stall doors.

"Mara? It's me. You wanna come out, luv?" Jerome asked her as he knocked on the stall door. He heard more sniffling and the sound of her ripping off some toilet paper.

"I'm so stupid. How could even think that I could be picked over Amber." He heard Mara say from the other side of the door. Jerome rolled her eyes, not believing how Mara could say that. She was way better than Amber in his opinion, and Mick was meat head if he didn't realize that.

"You're not stupid, Mara. Like I told you before, you're going places, like me. You're gonna be someone important, someone who's gonna change the world, Mara Jaffray. Me? I'm going to a fine business man who's going to make millions. Amber Millington is an airhead. She's going to be daddy's little princess her whole life, get everything she ever wants, and Mick's . . . well, Mick's always gonna be the meat head sports guy." Jerome told her, hoping that he was getting through to her, at least just a little bit. He smiled a little when he heard the lock to the bathroom stall unlock and the door pushed open to reveal a tear stained Mara Jaffray behind it.

"Amber can be smart when she wants to, Jerome." She told him as she walked out of the stall and over to the sink to see how horrible she looked. "God, I look horrific." She said out loud when she saw the mascara running down her cheeks and the red rimmed eyes and nose from her crying. Jerome came up behind her and shook his head. He was pleased to hear that she hadn't defended Mick like she had last time he called Mick a meat head.

"Maybe a little red in the face, but still pretty." Jerome told her. From the look in his eyes, she knew that he was being completely honest with her. She blushed upon realizing that. She turned on the tap water and grabbed a paper towel. She wet the paper towel and started to wipe off the make up on her face.

"No need to lie, Jerome. Haven't you ever heard flattery will get you no where?" Mara tried to brush it off. Amber was the pretty one, and Mara was the girl next door nerdy girl. She was no where near as pretty as Amber, not mention she had nothing in common with Mick, where Amber did.

"For once, Mara, I can honestly say that I'm not lying. You are pretty, and as I've said before, Mick is a meat head if she doesn't realize that." Jerome told her as he took the paper towel and wiped the missed spot of mascara off of her cheek for her. "Mara, you're passionate in what you do. You may not be head cheer leader like Amber, or blond and dumb like Amber, but you are worth more than what Mick can give you or I can give you." Jerome said to her as he tossed the paper towel away. Mara looked at him confused.

"What do you mean 'you could give me', Jerome." Mara asked him. He sighed, realizing that he had said too much to her.

"I'm rotten, Mara. I steal, and lie, and god, I treat Alfie like he's my dog. I'm not a good person. You deserve someone who you can trust and rely on, not some prankster, and especially not some jock who can decide if he wants his ex girlfriend over you." Jerome told her, biting his lip when he finished. He wasn't sure if Mara would stutter and run off or what. What she did would forever surprise him.

She _hugged_ him.

She burred her head in his shirt, letting new tears run down her face as she held onto him. Jerome stood frozen, looking down at her in total shock and awe. He had expected Mara to run away and never talk to him again, not hug him. "You might not be the nicest person, Jerome, but you are not rotten." Mara told him. Jerome looked down at her. He slowly, hesitantly, wrapped his arms around her too. Mara smiled to herself when he held onto her. She slowly looked up at him to see him staring down at her.

"More tears, Mara? After all of that, you're still crying over the bloke." Jerome tried to brush the whole funny feeling running through his entire body off. Mara just shook her head and smiled up at Jerome. She wasn't crying because of Mick, she was crying because she was happy, because of Jerome.

"No, silly. I'm crying happy tears." She laughed out to him. Jerome chuckled as as cupped her face in his hands and wiped away her tears with his thumbs. Mara's eyes sparkled as she looked up at him. Mara could swear she saw his dead blue eyes spark to life as he stared down at her. She bit her lip when she saw him look at her lips quickly.

He started to lean it to . . . to what? Kiss her? Jerome couldn't like her like that, could he? Mara froze as he leaned closer, stopping just seconds before his lips touched her's to make sure she wasn't going to run away. After a moment he pressed his lips on her own. Her lips were softer than he had imagined them being. Mara stood frozen, not knowing what to do.

After a moment, Jerome started to pull back having not felt her responding to his kiss. Maybe this was a mistake? He should have never kissed her. Just as he was about to pulled away, Mara placed her hand on his cheek and kissed him back. Jerome's eyes popped open in shock. Mara was kissing him back! He smiled to himself as he pulled her closer to him, trying to get as close to her as he could.

Mara giggled as her nipped at her bottom lip, asking for entrance. She let him in, their tongues dancing together as they backed up against the sink. Jerome let his hand roamed down to her thighs, picking up and setting her down on the sinks. He moved closer, in between her legs as he held onto her waist to hold her closer to him Mara wrapped her hands around his neck, tangling her fingers through his dirty blond hair.

After a minute, they both pulled back from lack of air, leaning their heads together as their eyes locked, a smile playing on both of their faces. Mara felt shocks funny through her entire body, her lips still tingling from Jerome's kiss. Mick had never kissed her like that before. His kisses had been short and quick, no fire works going off in her head like Jerome's kiss had.

"Wow." Mara gasped out. Jerome chuckled at her flushed cheeks.

"Yeah. Wow is right." Jerome chuckled, giving her lips another quick peck. Mara could feel her whole face turn red, probably as red as her dress. She couldn't believe that she just kissed Jerome, especially a kiss as passionate as the one they had shared only seconds ago.

"We should, uh, get back to the dance before we miss all of the good songs." Mara said to him as Jerome helped her down from the sinks. Jerome nodded in agreement. Mara giggled at his dazed look. He looked like his head was miles away from where he was now. She pulled on his hand and led the way out of the bathroom and toward the gym. Jerome pulled her to a stop, spinning her around to face him.

"Save the last dance for me, will you luv?" Jerome asked her, a small grin playing in his lips. Mara stared into his eyes, almost getting lost in the ocean blue orbs that were Jerome's eyes. She had never noticed how blue and beautiful they were before. They seemed so much a live right now, maybe that was why.

"Of course." Mara said to him before slipping into the gym first. Jerome grinned to himself before following inside after her. He looked around and smiled proudly when he saw Mick nursing his bruised jaw with an ice pack. He continued his search around the room to see Alfie and Amber dancing away. Good, Alfie deserved at least one dance with Amber after what he put him through in the last week. He wasn't surprised to see Nina and Fabian in their own world slow dancing.

_'This is the last dance for the night, folks. Hope you had a great night, this is your DJ Michael Davis, saying good night. Here's a number for those guys who are in love with a special girl and are hoping to get the last dance with them tonight. '_Save The Last Dance For Me'_." _Jerome chuckled at the how the DJ worded that. Jerome scanned the room, his eyes landing on a nervous Mara looking around. He slid his hands in his pants pockets and made his way over to her.

"I think this dance was saved for me." He said as he came up behind her. Mara spun around and smiled when she saw that it was him. Jerome held out a hand for her to take, which she did, and lead her to the dance floor. Jerome twirled her around, pulling her to him and let his hands drop down to her hips and moving her to the beat of the music.

Mara laughed out when motioned for her to twirl him. She held their hands up and he twisted under their arms in an attempt of twirling under them. Jerome spun her out, pulling her back in close to him. He chuckled at the blush on her cheeks. He turned her under their joined hands again before pulling her close, wrapping his arm around her waist.

As the song came to an end, they felt as if they were in their own world. He dipped her back as the last line was sung in the song. He brought her up slowly, bring her face to face with him. Their eyes locked together instantly. Her breath caught in her throat as his eyes flickered to her lips again. Without another thought, he kissed her lips for a third time tonight. Mara smiled as she wrapped her arms around her neck. The two stood there, slowly swinging to the music in their heads.


End file.
